


Hotwiring A Van Is Easier In Principle

by KatyaMorrigan



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Broken Down Vehicles, F/M, Gen, Holding Hands, Inej being the only impulse control in the vicinity, Jesper being a nuisance, Kaz being Kaz, Kissing, M/M, Matthias being grumpy, Multi, Nina flirting, Wylan being smart, the ultimate road trip gang, they can break into the Ice Court but functioning as friends is beyond them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26837128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatyaMorrigan/pseuds/KatyaMorrigan
Summary: The Crows decide to go on a road trip, but disaster strikes and they are stuck broken down just off the highway. Can they stop bickering long enough to sort their shit and get to where they're going? Impossible to say. Cue petty arguments, Gen Z banter, and Wylan knowing a little too much about hijacking vehicles.Three parts, each focused on one of the canon couples and the general group dynamic of the Crows, because who isn't a sucker for this friend group?
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa, Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik
Comments: 28
Kudos: 120
Collections: Kaz and Inej Fanfics





	1. Matthias and Nina

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a beautiful drawing done by @hate.potion on Instagram - I saw it and knew I had to write a proper story about why the Crows' van ended up by the side of the road with Nina frustratedly calling someone. Do check out her art on Instagram, she has a beautiful style and I particularly loved the outfits that she put the Crows in!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All is going as well as expected when it comes to the Crows - Jesper is being a nuisance, Kaz is backseat driving, and Matthias is losing the will to live - when their van breaks down just short of a service station. Cue more bickering, storming off, and general Helvar moodiness. Good job Nina is there to provide some relief for the poor driver.

Matthias thought there was little worse he could endure than what he had already been through. All the times he had felt certain that he had to give up, that he couldn’t take any more – he had made it past them, and he never intended to go back to those dark places. But he hadn’t been stuck in a minivan on a road trip with his five closest friends before.

“When’s the next stop?” Jesper whined. “I need to pee.”

“You had your chance two hours ago,” he replied, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.

“Yeah, but I didn’t need to go then!”

“And he hadn’t drunk a whole bottle of Mountain Dew then,” piped up Wylan. The noises from the seats behind Matthias indicated that someone was then being strangled.

“I can’t be held accountable for your bladder, Jesper,” he sighed.

“Someone’s going to have to soon. I’m just saying!”

The groans erupting from the back seats might just drive him mad.

“On the plus side, there must be an empty Mountain Dew bottle rolling around back there,” said Nina, turning around from her seat beside the driver. “If worse comes to worst…”

“You are not pissing in the back of my van!”

Matthias ignored the garbled complaints and focused back on the road. It stretched out far and wide in front of him, shimmering into the distance from the scorching heat. If they could just make it to the campsite by the end of the day, he wouldn’t have to resort to murder.

Nina’s hand rested on his thigh, and he briefly looked over. She was giving him an amused but sympathetic smile, and for just a second, there was nobody else in the van. Just him and her, as he always wanted it. There was music playing – girl in red, her choice, of course – and it was easy for his thoughts to wander onwards. Nina shuffled in her seat, adjusting the neckline of her strapless top with a little more enthusiasm than strictly necessary, and Matthias sighed. He couldn’t be distracted while driving.

“You should turn off in a mile,” came Kaz’s bored voice.

“No, we’re staying straight until the next highway junction.”

“Staying straight? That’s a challenge for most of us in here,” Jesper yelled, causing another burst of laughter.

“Everyone but me, it would seem,” Kaz said with a hint of a smirk, “Turn off in a mile.”

“I told you, we’re not turning off until the next junction.”

“The map says it would get us there faster.”

“There’s a service station just on from the junction. Jesper needs to pee, and I need a break from driving. We’re staying on this road.”

Inej chipped in. “We’ll get there faster in the long run if we take breaks for snacks and bathroom stuff.”

“Bathroom stuff?” was Kaz’s reply.

“I was going to say bathroom shenanigans to be funny, but I knew how Nina would—“

“Shenanigans!” The woman in the shotgun seat burst into uproarious laughter. “I want some _bathroom_ _shenanigans_ now!”

“See? Stuff was better.”

Matthias could hardly hear Inej over Nina’s honking.

“I still think we should prioritise arriving today over someone’s overzealous soda drinking.”

“Hey! Matt said he needed a break too!”

“…Please don’t call me Matt.”

“Matt-tias! Matty Matty Thias!” Jesper chanted from the back seats, slapping his thighs – or someone else’s – to the strange tune he had concocted.

Matthias sighed again and settled back into ignoring all noise around him. If he had to admit it, he really did like the strange collection of degenerates taking up space in the back of his van, but they didn’t half make it difficult sometimes.

“You’re going to wake up Trassel if you’re too noisy.”

“Yeah, prioritise the dog over us, why don’t you!” Jesper called out.

Yet again his thoughts strayed to the crate on the last row of seats. Trassel was still less than a year old, and needed plenty of attention at regular intervals. It made Matthias nervous to leave the young husky alone and shut away for so long. Maybe he could take him for a quick walk around the car park at the next service station…

It was at that moment that a loud grinding noise spat out of the engine.

“The fuck was that?” Nina asked.

“I don’t know…” Matthias trailed off as he looked across the dashboard, checking that nothing seemed off. They had plenty of fuel, the van was in generally good shape, so what was going on?

The noise got worse, peaking with every turn of the wheels. And then the van started to slow down.

“Pull over!” Kaz demanded, leaning forwards with his hands on Matthias’ headrest.

“I can manage this without your backseat driving!” he growled in response, yanking at the steering wheel. There was a squeak of indignation from Wylan and a yelp from Inej as the van lurched into a nearby rest stop, and then shuddered into silence.

“Brilliant,” Matthias scowled, undoing his seat belt and climbing out of the vehicle. It was blazingly hot outside, both from the direct heat of the sun and from the baked earth that was kicking up dust with every step Matthias took. He went around to the front of the van and lifted the hood, looking into the tangled mess of tubes and wires and boxes, and gleaned nothing from it. It all looked fine, as far as he could tell. What was wrong?

Questioning voices emanated from inside. Kaz’s face appeared at the window, quirking an eyebrow. Matthias gave an aggressive shrug and opened the back doors, reaching inside and letting Trassel out of his crate.

“How are you doing, boy?” he murmured softly as the wriggling ball of fur ran straight into his arms. Already Trassel was hard-pressed to be described as a puppy, and he was quite heavy to hold, so Matthias put him down gently and clipped on his lead. The husky seemed unconcerned by the van’s abrupt stop, and was happy to lick his owner’s hands with care-free abandon.

There was the slam of another car door, and Nina appeared beside him.

“What’s going on, babe?” she asked, kneeling down to pet Trassel too.

“No clue,” he admitted. “Nothing looks wrong under the hood, but I probably couldn’t tell even if there was.”

“Fantastic.” Nina looked back towards the road at the stream of cars still going past. “Shall I call for a tow-truck?”

“There might be an easy fix, I wouldn’t yet.”

They both settled onto the ground, Nina perching carefully on her knees so as not to get dirt on her skirt, and Matthias sinking heavily into it, leaning against a tire. The van had broken down and he was the one in charge – what was a little muck on his jeans?

Trassel gambolled playfully between the two of them, rolling onto his back for Nina to scratch at the thick white fur of his tummy.

“Don’t roll in the dirt baby boy, you’re gonna turn orange!” she chided him gently, tugging at his paws until he licked her hands again. Matthias couldn’t help smiling at his beautiful girlfriend and puppy, and Nina caught him.

“Soppy fool,” she said, leaning forwards to kiss him. Once was never enough, and pretty quickly they were holding each other’s faces, Matthias kissing her back while Trassel yipped and chewed on his shoelaces.

Nina finally pulled away from him and gave him the look that always made him feel incredibly nervous and incredibly excited.

“I’m calling a tow truck,” she said, getting up and stepping away. Matthias sighed and watched her walk a little further from the van. For once she was dressed appropriately for the weather, but it meant that her legs were entirely visible under a short skirt, as were her shoulders and arms and occasionally a glimpse at her soft pink midriff. Deeply unhelpful in a minor crisis such as this one.

“How long does it take you to fix a van?” Kaz demanded as he climbed out of the back. “Oh, I see.” He raised an eyebrow at Trassel. “You’re playing with your dog.”

“I had a look under the hood,” Matthias said defensively, standing up and brushing off the backs of his jeans.

“Did you see anything?” Kaz continued to question him.

“Nothing looked wrong.”

“Something clearly is.”

“Will you two stop bickering?” Nina yelled. “I’m trying to find a towtruck number but there’s no data or wifi I can use.”

“Inej’s phone has a hotspot,” Kaz replied, not looking away from Matthias.

The window of the van was wound down from inside.

“You called?” Inej said, leaning out and looking between the boys and Nina.

“Sure, let’s get everyone outside in the heat and sun and question Matthias on his van ownership abilities,” he grumbled, tugging on Trassel’s lead.

“I told you I should have driven,” Kaz asserted.

“You don’t have your license yet.”

“I have _a_ license.”

The people remaining in the van all piled out at once, Jesper wincing as Inej’s phone screen reflected a square of bright light directly into his face. Wylan hopped out excitedly and immediately made his way over to Matthias and Kaz.

“Do you need me to hotwire the van?” he asked excitedly, looking up at them.

“No!” came the dual reply.

“I swear I’ve done it before, and it’s completely safe! I have my pliers in the –“

“You’re not messing around with the electrics in my van.” Matthias groaned and hit his head against the side of the vehicle. It had taken him months to find and then buy it, and he was very much attached to it even though it had failed him on this occasion.

“Inej’s hotspot isn’t working,” came Nina’s frustrated voice. She walked back over, the offending phone held out in front of her. “I can’t bring up Google, so I have no idea how to find a number we can call.”

“There might be one in the glove box,” Wylan suggested. “I’ll go and look.”

Too many people were trying to do too many things and it was stressing Matthias an unimaginable amount. He twisted Trassel’s lead between his fingers and tried to focus on the sizzling spot of sunlight reflecting from Inej’s phone onto the ground. Kaz was still making highly critical demands, Wylan was dashing between seats looking for numbers to call, and he was trying to figure out any way to get them back on the road again.

“Can I go and sit on the roof?” Jesper asked, one foot already on the lip of the trunk.

“You know what, sure,” Matthias snapped. “Go sit on the roof, wipe your feet on the seats, kick in the windows. I’m going for a walk.”

He tugged at the lead, and the ever-happy husky at his feet began trotting along with him.

Nina called out. “I’ll come too! There might be service further up the road.”

She quickly jogged up beside him, panting a little. Her phone was still clasped in her hand – like Nina ever chose clothes for their pocket capacity – but she moved it to the other so that she could slip her nearest hand into his and give it a squeeze.

Matthias looked up at her, and she gave a breathless smile. They walked until they were far enough from the broken down van and its occupants that they wouldn’t be easily heard.

“You needed a break from that lot,” she said knowingly.

“They try my patience way too much.”

Nina sighed. “Only Kaz does it deliberately, and he’s an asshole to everyone. The others are just… y’know…”

“We’re all annoying at times,” Matthias acknowledged.

“And you’re quite easily annoyed.”

Nina’s grin made it clear that she was not criticising him, and he let out a heavy breath.

“We’ll take a walk to the next signpost, I’ll try to get some signal, and you can refresh a little bit.”

“Thank you, babe.” They walked in comfortable semi-quiet, each step punctuated by the rush of passing cars.

“I’m meant to be the hot-headed one, you’re stealing my spotlight right now,” she teased, slipping her arm through his.

“You’re just hot.” There was a beat. Matthias looked back at her anxiously. “I-I mean, like, because it’s hot out here, not—“

“Yes you did mean that,” Nina crowed, “You think I’m hot!”

“Shut up, you know I do,” he said, trying not to grin and failing.

“It’s even better when you say it though. And _that’s_ even better when you get all blushy and uncomfortable.”

“I’m not blushing,” he protested, turning away.

“Your handsome face is so red, you might as well be sunburnt.” Nina’s expression and tone were nothing short of triumphant, and she ran a ticklish finger along his palm.

“You are so mean to me.”

“And yet you still think I’m hot. Do you like it when I’m mean, handsome?”

Matthias stopped and pulled her close with an arm around her waist, kissing her hard just to stop her from talking and making him sweat. She made a delightful noise as his mouth covered hers, and slid her hands up the front of his shirt to rest on his shoulders. Nina was never particularly well-behaved in public, but this time he didn’t mind that she was pressing herself against him all too tightly, and that her tongue had already found his. He lowered his hand to cup her ass, and Nina smiled against his mouth evilly.

A car horn blared out from the road, and Matthias pulled away to see a driver giving him a thumbs-up and a smirk. He cleared his throat and looked at Nina – she was flushed and rosy, with a pleased smile on her face.

“Okay, I like it even more when you’re brave like that,” she said, pecking him on the lips much more gently. 

“I’m not so keen,” Matthias replied.

“Well, I’ll remain in charge of PDA if you’d prefer.”

“Can that mean no PDA?”

“You’d really starve me of affection like that?” Nina pouted. He rolled his eyes and kissed her.

“I could never do that. Now come on, we should actually find a way to call a tow-truck.”

Matthias reached for her hand again, and together they walked onwards, Nina checking her phone for the little bars lighting up, and Trassel trying to trip them both up. The sunlight was blinding and the heat was almost unbearable, but never did Matthias think of letting go of his girlfriend’s hand. That just wasn’t an option.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part one done! The story will continue with each couple's perspective, but we're starting off nice and easily with Helnik. You have to love Matthias and Nina's contrasting personalities, and Matthias begrudgingly putting up with their friends.
> 
> Credit goes to @hate.potion for the premise of this fic, and definitely go take a look at Clara's drawing that started this story over on Instagram. She is such a wonderful artist and deserves all of the likes and follows.


	2. Kaz and Inej

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Matthias storms off and Nina follows behind, Kaz is bothered significantly by Inej's annoyance at him. Definitely a her problem, right? Wrong. Time for some mild scolding and a resolution to be less of an asshole on his part. And maybe some kissing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This second chapter is brought to you by day 5 of my NaNoWriMo writing challenge this year - one oneshot a day, every day for the whole of November. I'm following the SOFTober 2020 prompts by @wafflesandkruge on Instagram to give me some fluffy starting points for the coming month of fics. Also it's very useful for encouraging me to hop back on old projects.
> 
> Today's prompt was "hands", but I already knew what was happening in this chapter anyway.  
> I hope you enjoy!

“You know what, sure,” Matthias snapped. “Go sit on the roof, wipe your feet on the seats, kick in the windows. I’m going for a walk.”

He yanked on the lead of his ever-faithful dog, and stormed off towards the outstretch of road trailing behind them. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Matthias to need a break from the general sniping that often happened between them all, but it never sat right with the others. Kaz looked at the remaining members of the group; Jesper looked a little guilty, Wylan simply confused, and Inej was focusing a disapproving glare on him. Dammit.

Nina had been fumbling with her and Inej’s phone, but she dropped the latter into the other girl’s hands and started half-jogging towards Matthias’ sullen figure.

“I’ll come too! There might be service further up the road,” she called out, panting a little as she tried to catch up with him.

It was absolutely typical that their attempt at a holiday together end up like this: stranded at the side of the road, with Matthias taking the hump and Nina going off after him. This wouldn’t have happened if he had driven, like he had suggested at the very start of the day. Did it matter that Kaz didn’t have a license yet? Not really. He had a convincing-looking card in his pocket that technically had come from the correct office, albeit not by their own distribution. But he could drive well enough, and Matthias’ van handled well – not that Matthias knew that Kaz knew that, either.

He stood by the van, adjusting his turtleneck and looking anxiously at Inej. She was still tapping away at her phone, occasionally bringing it to her ear as she supposedly tried various numbers, and lowering it in disappointment as the answer messages started rolling. Jesper had climbed on top of the van and was sitting between the luggage rails, swinging his legs but taking care not to bash his muddy heels against the white paintwork. Wylan soon joined him, although not without complaint at the steep sides of the vehicle and his awkward limbs.

Inej was definitely avoiding looking at him. Kaz sighed and watched the cars go past, their windows glinting in the strong sunlight. It was too hot to be wearing all black.

Why wasn’t Inej looking at him? He had seen the glare that she had thrown his way after Matthias stormed off, but why was she now avoiding talking to him? Kaz hadn’t been that unfair to him. The van was his responsibility and he had failed them, despite Kaz’s regular attempts to get them back on track. At this rate the sun would have set by the time they arrived.

At last, Inej was looking up at him. Their eyes met, and Kaz’s stomach lurched. She glowed in the bright midday heat, with her dark skin shining and her plait as liquid as oil. Always practical, she was wearing a loose grey jumpsuit that cinched in at her waist, giving the impression that she was longer-legged than she really was. Inej looked beautiful, not that she ever suspected it.

And then she looked away again. _Dammit._

Kaz felt it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to approach her. He leaned through the open window of the van and pulled out the map that he had insisted they bring in case technology failed them. It was creased around the edges from Nina’s sweaty hands gripping it, and he had to shake it flat a few times. Slowly, he walked over beside Inej. Her back was turned away from the van and the boys sat on top of it, her focus very much on the phone in her hands. Tension ridged her shoulders, and Kaz felt guilty placing himself beside her when she was clearly so centred around a task.

He looked casual enough though, scouring the map while stood beside his girl as she did her own research into the best method out of here. The small distance between their arms – Inej’s bare and faintly goosebumped as a thin breeze sprung up, Kaz’s still covered in the black wool of his turtleneck sweater – felt very palpable. Maybe Kaz could turn over the page and brush his forearm against hers—

“You’re too hard on Matthias,” Inej said, still looking at her phone.

Wow. She really was still thinking about that. He didn’t know what to say; fortunately it wasn’t un-Kaz-like to take longer than socially appropriate to respond to anything in conversation. It was his thing: controlling the talking while barely saying a word. But as soon as she was even slightly upset with him, Kaz felt the need to defend himself and his choices and ultimately get her to say that he was forgiven.

“I know you don’t think you are, but it’s really unfair, the way you push him constantly.”

She had chanced a glance up at him, and Kaz was struck by the faint blush over her cheeks and the small strands of hair sticking to her face just below her jaw. And her eyes, of course, her warm dark eyes were staring straight at him. Kaz sometimes thought you could fall into them if you looked for too long.

He swallowed and looked back out at the horizon. He was an idiot for wearing black on a day like this.

“He makes poor choices a lot of the time, and I would rather help him to make better ones.” Kaz wished he had his cane to lean on right now, but it was still in the back of the car. Not only was his leg twinging again, he was feeling the creeping need to hold onto something and not fidget. Inej made him all too aware of his hands and limbs.

“Do you actually want him to make better choices, or do you just want to be right?” Inej’s voice had a hint of amusement in it, as it always did when she hit the nail on the head and knew it.

“I can’t help being right all the time,” he replied with a small smile, but she had turned back to the screen in her hands and her expression was disappointed.

“You’re not right all the time though, and you know it. You would just rather be wrong the Kaz way than any other way.”

Well shit. There were benefits to having some kind of relationship with a person who saw right through every coping mechanism and unhealthy choice, but being called out like this was not one of them.

“Tell me I’m wrong, love.”

And then Inej was looking back up at him, her phone now in her pocket and her arms folded neatly across her slim chest, those galaxy eyes demanding he give an answer. Kaz sighed again and looked back out across the road.

Inej gave a chuckle. “You’re saying nothing, which means you know I’m right.”

“And yet you’re allowed to be right all the time,” he grumbled, but Inej definitely saw the smirk that was creeping up on his mouth.

“I can’t help it. I just happen to be right all the time, while you _need_ to be the one in charge.”

“We’re on a road trip, stop psychoanalysing me.”

“I’m just saying what I see, Kaz. And you look pissed off that I know you better than you know yourself.”

“It is an awful habit you have. Too perceptive.” But he couldn’t help smiling to himself.

“I thought that’s why you liked having me around.” Her tone was soft, and it was a shy expression of happiness that they shared in that moment.

The heat was still shimmering over the expanse of dusty ground unmarked by buildings or fields, turning the lower range of sky into a melting mass of gold and blue. There was quiet chatter from Wylan and Jesper on the roof of the van, and the rumble of cars as they passed. A sudden horn then pierced the air, and Wylan let out a scandalised laugh.

“Matthias just grabbed Nina’s ass! And someone _honked at them!”_

Kaz and Inej turned to look, but the offending couple were too far off to see. Wylan and Jesper seemed to be enjoying it though, and Inej joined in with their laughter. It was a relief to hear her happy and relaxed again; Kaz found it unbearable when she was as quiet as him. Her face was lit up, and she was looking at him to share the amusement. He couldn’t help chuckling too, turning himself slowly to face Inej once she had stopped casting her gaze back towards the stretch of road where their friends were apparently engaging in appalling PDA.

Wylan and Jesper had gone back to talking amongst themselves, and Inej had let out the easy sigh of someone waiting for conversation to resume. All the annoyance in her shoulders had dissolved, and she was standing as loosely as the jumpsuit draped over her slight figure.

“You are right, of course,” Kaz started. “I was being too hard on Matthias, and I’m sorry for it. Not just because you noticed.” He glanced at her – Inej looked quietly pleased. “Definitely control issues.”

“I’m not the one that needs telling,” she grinned, nudging him gently with her elbow. She had moved first, and she had touched him first. That was a good sign. An excellent one.

“Would you like to tell me about my issues with control then, my dear?” he replied.

“That’s too easy, I’d rather make you figure them out yourself.”

Kaz huffed out a sigh, but he couldn’t help smiling. He was forgiven, and Inej was accepting his admittance of his problems well enough.

“Besides,” Inej said, “you’re not wrong to offer helpful suggestions. It’s just that often yours aren’t helpful. Or suggestions, for that matter.”

“Okay, spare me the full telling-off for when we’re done with this trip. I’ll do better for you when I’m not focused on enjoying time with everyone.”

Inej gave him a sympathetic look. It hurt just a little.

“Do better for _you._ That’s what I really want.”

Well fuck. Kaz knew he was pretty messed up. Kaz knew he was nowhere near good enough for the lovely woman in front of him. But when she said things like that, he thought it was worth all the effort it would take to become something close to what she deserved.

She reached out and took the map from him.

“Aren’t your hands hot in your gloves?”

Kaz flexed his fingers slightly. “Of course.”

“Would you be willing to take them off so I can hold them? How bad is it today?”

“Not awful. And I would like to hold your hand.”

Kaz’s hypersensitivity to touch almost drove him mad some days. But Inej’s palm was soft and cool and so small in his, and he was certain he would give a lot of things to be able to do this every single day.

The map was held between the two of them, each holding a side with their closest hands clasped together. Inej lifted their shared grip so that she could point to some of the narrow roads leading off from the highway.

“It says that there’s a garage just down here, sort of behind the service station and down the other road. Would we be able to walk that far and get someone over to fix the van?”

“Not in this heat. Matthias and Nina will need to come back soon enough or they’ll get heat stroke, and the rest of us shouldn’t be in the sun much longer anyway. Well,” he said, looking back at the top of the van, “Wylan and I shouldn’t, anyway.”

“Ah yes, pale complexions and summer heat,” Inej grinned, reaching up to touch his face but stopping just before she did. “Is it—”

“It’s okay, go on.”

She cupped her soft hand to his cheek and smiled warmly, her touch sending pleasing waves through Kaz’s chest. It was so rare to just do things like this, to not worry about the intensity of the sensation. But Inej was always so respectful and gentle, always asking to make sure and never touching him for too long just in case. Sometimes he thought it might be out of reluctance, other times that she was just as nervous as him. Either way, Kaz would never say no to her hands lingering against his face or hands or chest.

“Would you mind if I…” Inej was looking at his lips now, with that involved expression of someone thinking hard.

“Yes?”

“You know you’re allowed to kiss me whenever you want to,” she said with a grin.

“Oh? Is that an indirect request?” he teased, taking the map from her and folding it up.

“I think I’m allowed to ask you to make the first move for once.”

“Am I allowed to make you ask nicely?” Inej blushed at that, and Kaz felt his stomach lurch.

“You ask, then.”

And then he was stuck again. Inej, in front of him, asking him to ask for something he wanted. Why was it so hard to be honest in the simplest ways? Kaz took an unnecessary deep breath and swallowed.

“Kiss me?”

Inej put her hands on his forearms and leaned up, pressing her lips to his with ease. She fit so well against him, her slime frame comfortable against him as Kaz lifted a hand to rest at the back of her head. Her hair was warm and damp from the heat, and as he slid his fingers up into the base of her plait Inej gave a comfortable sigh, leaning into him even more. The kiss felt like it lasted ages, but in reality, it had to have been less than a minute. When Inej pulled back, she stayed in his arms for a little while, resting her head against his chest and running her fingers over the soft wool of his turtleneck.

“How easy was that?” she smiled, and Kaz gave a chuckle.

“Incredibly easy, my dear.”

“Should we actually try to work out a route out of this layby?” Inej suggested, picking up the map from where it had been dropped in the dust and shaking the orange smears from the pages. Kaz made an affirmative noise and took the other side of the map, slipping his hand into hers again.

“We should go and find Nina and Matthias,” he said. “I don’t know whether they actually managed to get any data further up the road, but at the very least, we now know which garage to try calling.”

“You’re right. Let’s go find them.”

Inej dropped the map back in Nina’s seat through the open van window, and told Jesper and Wylan where they were going. Jesper made some comment which made Inej laugh, and Kaz watched her return to him with a smile on her face.

“Jesper thinks you just want to grope me like Matthias did to Nina just now, but they’re fine with us going off without them,” she said. Kaz snorted.

“We are far better behaved than them.”

Inej laughed in response, taking his hand once more and leading the way. Kaz was powerless to do anything other than follow in her wake, watching her shining face in the sunlight and smiling quietly to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love Kaz being awkward and slightly obsessed with Inej in a healthy way - unusual for him to have a healthy habit. She's good for him, and I love them.   
> Stay tuned for part three, from Jesper and Wylan's perspective. That will be coming to you on the 12th of this month - see? This challenge is great at making me plan my writing. Look forward to our favourite twinks having a laugh on top of Matthias' van and maybe solving the issue...
> 
> Tomorrow's prompt is "tumble", and will be a Heartstopper fic about Nick and Charlie (obviously).


	3. Jesper and Wylan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz and Inej are wrapped up in their own conversation, Nina and Matthias are off sulking elsewhere (Matthias doing most of the sulking), and Jesper is still sat on the top of the van with Wylan. It's plenty of fun to chat and flirt with his boyfriend, but still, it would be good to get moving soon. Fortunately, Wylan is sneakier than he seems, and they may well be off again before they know it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 12 of my NaNoWriMo writing challenge this year - one oneshot a day, every day for the whole of November. I'm following the SOFTober 2020 prompts by @wafflesandkruge on Instagram to give me some fluffy starting points for the coming month of fics.  
> The prompt for today was "warm".  
> I hope you enjoy!

Jesper perched awkwardly on the top of the van once Matthias was gone. It had seemed pretty fun to sit up there at the time, but now that he had gone off in a strop, Jesper was worried about annoying him further. There was little more painful than when the two most testosterone-fuelled people in the group decided to pick fights, and he wasn’t about to make things worse even by accident.

He just sat for a little bit, recollecting his thoughts and looking out at the stretch of road. You could see for miles and miles in every direction from up there – the glittering windows of the cars as they went where they were headed, the golden earth kicking up great clouds of dust, and the shimmering outlines of buildings way way off on the horizon. He supposed one of them much be the service station they wanted to get to – well, he wanted to. Jesper still needed to pee pretty badly.

“Hey, Wy?”

“Yeah?”

“Come up here with me. There’s great views, and you’ll be a bit taller.”

“Fuck off,” his boyfriend grinned, appearing from the back of the van again. “How do I get up?”

“Through great strength and tenacity. Also there’s a lip by the trunk you can use to get a leg up.”

Jesper leaned forwards to watch as Wylan tried to get up. His ginger curls looked coppery and metallic in the bright sunlight, and there was a thin sheen of sweat over his cheeks as he tried to climb up.

“You can do it,” Jesper encouraged him as Wylan swore a few times.

“I’m not as lanky as you, I don’t have the leg length for climbing!”

“I believe in you, come on!”

Wylan gave a great exhale as he finally managed to lift himself up over the edge of the roof, leaning forwards to shift his weight and finally scrambling on top.

“Elegance at its finest,” he remarked. Wylan stuck his tongue out, and Jesper laughed. “You looked like a giraffe trying to walk.”

“Just because you get the giraffe comment most of the time,” he grinned, shuffling forwards and sitting next to Jesper. “Especially with that outfit.”

“What’s wrong with mustard?” Jesper asked, mock-offended. He gestured down his body at the vibrant yellow jacket and matching trousers before picking at the white polka-dot vest that he wore underneath – he was warm. “These are the epitome of style.”

“Do you even know what epitome means?” Wylan replied smugly. Jesper batted his arm, both laughing.

“You certainly couldn’t spell it,” he said in an undertone. Jesper knew that Wylan wasn’t the most confident in regards to his dyslexia, and didn’t want to joke so loudly that he embarrassed him. But still – it was a pretty good joke, and Wylan did roll his eyes before batting Jesper back with a grin.

They sat up on the top of the van while Kaz and Inej talked. It didn’t seem to be going well for Kaz at all. Jesper sighed and looked back across the road. He tried counting blue cars, then black ones, then just cars with numberplates starting with G. It wasn’t particularly entertaining. He turned to look at Wylan instead, and caught the other boy staring blatantly at him.

“Admiring the view?” he teased, leaning over and kissing Wylan on the cheek.

“Stop it!” Wylan laughed, blushing profusely.

“It’s okay, I know you can’t resist me. You don’t have to pretend you can.”

“Stopppp!”

Jesper wrapped an arm around Wylan’s shoulder and pulled him into a hug against his chest.

“You’re so cute.”

“This is bullying.”

“Nah, we’re dating. Bullies don’t date.”

“Fine, it’s domestic abuse, then.”

“Why are you so determined that I’m being mean when I’m affectionate?” Jesper cooed, wrapping another arm around his boyfriend. Wylan gave a heavy sigh and leaned into him. Jesper resisted the urge to pull on his suspenders just to see how much he could wind him up.

Wylan tolerated a lot from Jesper. He was quiet and mostly sensible, knowledgeable in so many areas despite his poor reading ability, and generally a pretty damn fine specimen. Jesper, on the other hand, was loud and physical, the definition of dumbass with plenty of charisma. He knew he could date a lot of people, but he doubted anyone could ever love him like Wylan. There was nothing like finding his balance – the person he could tease relentlessly who would endure it all and still have some excellent comebacks themselves. Did he go overboard sometimes? Definitely. Did Wylan deserve all the ribbing he took? Absolutely not. But Wylan seemed to think it was worth it, and Jesper knew that so long as the lovely boy whose head was in his lap right now was happy, then little else was a concern.

“How are you not super warm right now?” Wylan asked from his thighs. “You’re still wearing a jacket and it’s like eighty degrees right now.”

“I’m evolved for a warmer climate, freckles,” he replied, stroking Wylan’s cheek. “I don’t have your pale pasty body trying to learn how to survive.”

“You like my pale pasty body just fine.”

“Damn right I do. I was answering your question: black boy beauty, baby.”

Jesper leaned back on his hands, letting Wylan lay out across his lap some more. His hair looked like fire, like amber from a fossil, like a rare flower. The ginger hairs on Wylan’s bare freckled arms were stood up in the sunshine, and Jesper instinctively reached forward to stroke them. Wylan gave a little giggle, and Jesper had to stop himself from full-on tickling Wy while they were so peaceful just so he could hear that contented chuckle again.

“Sometimes I think you were made for the sun more than me,” Jesper said softly. Wylan rolled over to face him.

“In what way?”

“You’re all orange and pink right now, you’re so pretty.” Wylan blushed deeper. “Exactly my point – your lovely little freckles are all disappearing now because you can’t take a compliment. Which is a shame, because I like complimenting you _and_ seeing your freckles.”

Wylan covered his face with his hands, his bright blue eyes shining through the gaps in his fingers.

“Come on Wy, let me see your lovely face.”

“No. I’m blushing so much right now.”

“It’s cute!”

“You’re so mean.”

“For calling you cute?”

“Yes.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because now I’m blushing even more!”

Jesper laughing and sat up a little more, leaning over Wylan and holding his wrists so he could reveal the pink face of the boy he loved once more.

“How about you kiss me? Because then you can blush all you want, and I won’t be able to see your face.”

Wylan gave a shyly pleased grin.

“I like the sound of that.”

He lifted his head up to Jesper, who put a hand under those beautiful curls to support them as their lips met, soft and a little awkward from the seating position. Wylan relaxed back into Jesper’s lap, dropping back down with a sigh as they kissed. It was so warm out there on the roof of the van, and Jesper was feeling the need to take his jacket off now. Everything was gentle and lazy, soft lips pulling each other in, over and over. Wylan reached up and cupped Jesper’s cheek, stroking over the light stubble by his ear with his thumb, and giggling into his mouth. Jesper pulled away, barely an inch away from Wylan’s face.

“What’s so funny?” he murmured quietly. Wylan’s eyes were a kaleidoscope this close – so many tones of blue and green and grey that felt like the most refreshing water in the world.

“You make fun of me for blushing – but I can feel that you’re blushing right now too.” Wylan stroking his cheek again, and Jesper gave another chuckle as he pressed a kiss the Wylan’s lips.

“You got me there.”

Wylan brought his face closer again, into another warm kiss that felt just like the beautiful sunlight beating down on Jesper’s back. Of course he was blushing – look at the boy he was kissing. There was nowhere else he could think of being right now, no other thoughts could possibly enter his head right now. There was nothing but Wylan, his face and his hands and his lips and the firmness of his chest as Jesper pressed his palm against his breastbone, stroking gently against Wylan’s white t-shirt.

It was Wylan who pulled away this time, and Jesper was almost grateful. He didn’t think he could have stopped kissing him if he tried. Instead, he rested his forehead against Wylan’s, opening his eyes a crack to see the serene expression on his face, and admire the faint freckles that lined his lashes and the underside of his eyebrows. Someone had spent a damn long time designing this boy, painting him in little dots all over, making him the prettiest thing Jesper had seen. It was only right that he admire him—and now Wylan had caught him staring.

“Got you,” he whispered, chuckling as Jesper groaned.

“I’m enjoying the view,” he replied.

“Oh, so you’re allowed to, and I get called out for it?”

“It’s cute that you’re so obsessed with me.”

Wylan snorted and sat up again, his hands under his thighs as he swung his legs over the side of the van.

“To be fair, I am pretty obsessed,” he said, giving Jesper a look that made butterflies fizz in his stomach. “You call me cute, but you’re just plain handsome.”

“Just?” Jesper grinned, and Wylan laughed.

“You’re fishing for compliments now?”

“I wanna hear everything,” he said, shuffling closer to Wylan and nudging his shoulder. “Out with it.”

“I’m gay.”

“No shit.”

Wylan cackled at that, slapping his knees and rocking backwards. It made Jesper laugh too, and soon they were both in hysterics on the top of the van, wheezing and grabbing each other’s arms. No-one ever said they had a sophisticated sense of humour.

They finally calmed down and took their eyes away from each other. Jesper breathed in a deep sigh and finally took off his jacket. He hooked it around his foot and carefully lowered it through the open back window of the van, kicking it onto the last row of seats. Settling back down on the roof once more, Jesper threw his arm around Wylan’s shoulder and looked off into the distance with him.

“Can you see Nina and Matthias?” Jesper asked.

“Not quite… The cars make it hard to work out where the little path is. Hang on, there they are.”

He pointed across the horizon, and Jesper followed his finger to see the couple stood together, a pink and blue smear a fair way off. It looked like they were kissing. Typical. Not that Jesper could comment on that. A loud car horn parped as it whizzed past the parked van.

“Hang on—HAH!” Wylan whooped. “Matthias just grabbed Nina’s ass! And someone _honked at them!”_

Jesper burst into laughter, looking at the couple who slowly released each other. He looked back towards Kaz and Inej, who had heard Wylan’s shout and were laughing too. Well – Inej was laughing, and Kaz was just about smiling. Quite a raucous display of amusement from him.

“I cannot believe Matthias did that,” Wylan giggled, calming down. “He’s normally so prudish. That’s hilarious.”

“We got something on the bingo card, then: blatant PDA.”

“Since when has there been a bingo card?”

“I feel like there should be one. What would be on it?”

“Well, the PDA, which we’ve already ticked off.”

“Nina wearing something short and tight and Matthias making her borrow his jacket.”

“Inej mediating an argument.”

“Nina taking too much food but still eating it all anyway.”

“Kaz staring at Inej.”

“You staring at me.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Wylan protested. “We all stare at each other.”

“I don’t see you making puppy dog eyes at Kaz all that often.”

“You know what I meant.” Wylan rolled his eyes and lay back on the roof of the van, and Jesper followed suite.

The sky was blue and cloudless, so bright it hurt to look at for long. Jesper cupped his hands around his eyes to admire it more safely, and Wylan rolled onto his side so that he could throw an arm over Jesper’s chest.

“Okay, so reasons you’re super handsome,” he said with a grin.

“You know I was joking, right?” Jesper replied.

“Yes, but I’m going to tell you anyway, because your ego can be inflated a little bit more, I think. Firstly, I’m obsessed with this.”

Wylan lowered his hand to smooth over the strip of skin visible on Jesper’s stomach from his cropped vest.

“Really? All the things you can compliment about me, and you go for my belly first?” he laughed.

“Yep. I’m starting there because I can’t stop looking at it. I love it when you wear crop tops, it’s so cute.”

“Cute and handsome? Wow, the Van Eck package.”

“Stop it,” Wylan admonished him, poking him hard in the ribs, making Jesper yelp.

“Okay, okay! I’ll take the love! What’s next?”

“These.”

Wylan ran his hands down Jesper’s biceps, giving them a gentle squeeze. “You’re so strong, and muscular, and really I just want to be in your arms all the time.”

Jesper had to admit, he could now see why Wylan spent so much time with a permanent blush. Having all of this verbal affection piled on top over and over was a lot, and he wasn’t sure his Wylan-adoring brain could handle so much positive reinforcement.

“And I love your lips, because they’re so soft, and your eyes, because they’re so soft, and your cheeks, because they’re so soft..”

“My tummy, because it’s so soft.”

“Well, yes. It’s better for resting my head on.”

“Are you going to run out of things to say?” Jesper asked.

“I don’t think I ever will.”

“I love you, Wy.”

“Love you too, babe.”

There was a rustle from below, and Jesper sat up to look over the side of the van. Inej was stowing the map she and Kaz had been looking at, and was now peering up at him from below.

“Hello, little one,” he said with a grin.”

“Hello, lanky gremlin,” she replied, “Kaz and I are going to try to find Nina and Matthias, because we think we’ve found a garage nearby that we can call to tow us. Do you want to come with us, or do you want to watch the van?”

“I’ll do some van-watching,” Wylan volunteered.

“Are you sure Kaz doesn’t just want to take you far enough away that we can’t see him touch your butt like Matthias just did to Nina?”

Inej laughed.

“I’m pretty sure he’d die trying to get those words out of his mouth.”

“Nah, we couldn’t kill him even if we wanted to.”

“And Matthias frequently does,” Wylan chipped in.

“Thanks for asking, though,” Jesper said. “We’ll make sure nobody steals the van.”

“Fantastic, guys. Love you!” Inej called out as she returned to Kaz.

They left shortly after, walking along the same dusty path as Matthias and Nina, hand in hand.

“I’m so bored of waiting,” Wylan groaned. “They said I wasn’t allowed to try to hotwire the van, but I really think I can do it. It’s not difficult.”

“We promised we’d take care of it.”

“And I’m not going to do anything bad to it. Just… jog the engine a little.”

“Well, we are alone,” Jesper said slowly, looking at Wylan, who was wearing a very Kaz-like grin. Jesper liked it a lot. He leaned forward and kissed him with more force than usual. “Let’s jumpstart this bitch.”

Wylan giggled mischievously as they made the descent from the top of the van, which was significantly easier than it had been getting up. Jesper stood back and watched as his boyfriend went into the trunk of the van, lifting out the suitcases they had packed and removing the mat covering the floor. Beneath it was a small cubby hole, filled with tools and a repair kit.

“How do you know that’s in there?” Jesper asked.

“Kaz isn’t the only one who steals Matthias’ van.”

Jesper looked at Wylan in wonder. He was grinning even wider, his eyes bright with the joy of getting to finally do something, and still Jesper was just astonished that he had never considered Wylan being that sneaky.

“You continue to surprise me,” he settled for, bringing his arm around Wylan’s hip and pressing a kiss to his warm cheek. “Can I help with this?”

“Yes. Watch for the others and tell me if they get back. I don’t think Matthias would be pleased to see this – or Inej, for that matter.”

“She does seem to have a moral compass that the rest of us lack,” Jesper mused, parking himself by the driver’s side door and keeping a careful eye on the road behind them as Wylan lifted the hood of the van and started to tinker.

He looked like he was in his element, armed with a pair of pliers and some extra cables, lifting things up with the point of a screwdriver and fiddling with the various contraptions that lay within the van’s engine. Jesper had never seen the inside of a vehicle like that before, and had no idea what any of it did. But the boy with a grin of delight on his face definitely did, as he twisted a few tubes round on themselves and made a careful cut across a wire, which he reattached elsewhere. Jesper had a horrible fleeting thought of the fights that might occur if Wylan did something that made the situation worse.

“Okay, I think I might have done it,” came an uncertain voice from behind him. Wylan closed the hood, and rapped it with his knuckles. “Let’s just sit in the driver’s seat and see if it’ll start up again.”

Jesper did so, sitting in Matthias’ seat and turning the key. It gave another awkward groan just as it had when the engine problems had started, but that then developed into the healthy grumble of a van with a clear ignition and plenty of fuel. He looked out at Wylan, delighted, and laughed at Wylan’s expectant face.

“Thought so,” he said, grinning as Jesper turned off the van and climbed out again. “It was pretty simple to do, and it will definitely get us to the garage or a service station so someone else can give it a proper go-over.”

“How am I dating a genius?” Jesper asked, pulling Wylan into a brief embrace and kissing his forehead. “And what do we do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“The van’s working again. We can go. We need to get the others!”

“Oh yeah! Let’s run and find them!”

Wylan grabbed Jesper’s hand and prepared to sprint away, but they only reached the short divergence from dusty layby to the narrow path following the road when they found their four friends.

“Is everything okay?” Inej asked.

“The van’s working again!” Jesper said, prompting delighted sighs and exclamations from everyone. Matthias looked unconvinced though.

“What makes you say that?” he said, passing Nina Trassel’s lead and immediately going over to the van. He climbed into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition.

“Well, Wylan—”

“I was getting too hot out here, so I decided to sit in the van and put the air conditioning on,” he quickly cut in. “I had to turn on the van to do that, and it actually started up, which I wasn’t expecting. I kinda forgot it had even broken down until I realised I could actually turn on the air con.”

Wylan glanced quickly at Jesper, who nodded vigorously. How was his boyfriend the smartest person in the world?

“Amazing!” Nina said, clapping her hands. “I just managed to get in contact with the garage just off the highway up here, and they said they couldn’t pick up the van. But they’re still open, so we can stop off there for an hour just to get the van checked over and then head off!”

“I’m glad it’s all working again,” Inej said, mostly to Matthias.

“Me too,” he replied with a smile. “Everyone get in again!”

They all piled back into the van, Matthias putting Trassel back into his crate on the back seats and Kaz taking a moment to collect up the rubbish that had accumulated in the footwells. Jesper sat straight back in his seat and waited for Wylan to join him. He looked out of the window to where Kaz was packing an old carrier bag with food wrappers. Wylan passed Kaz to climb in, but stopped for a moment as Kaz caught his eye. Kaz gave him a quick wink and a pat on the shoulder before turning back to Nina’s open window and giving her instructions about not eating the remaining snacks. Wylan climbed in beside Jesper, face flushed and grinning.

“Alright, everyone ready?” Matthias called.

“Aye aye, captain!” Jesper and Nina chorused. Inej started laughing, and Kaz sighed heavily.

“Five minutes ‘til we get to the garage, then we’re going to the service station, and finally on to the campsite.”

“That’s good, because I still really need to piss,” Jesper said. Wylan groaned and smacked him on the thigh. Jesper just grinned. They were going to have a brilliant time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally done it! I loved writing this little three-part fic based on an incredible drawing by @hate.potion on Instagram (do check it out), and now it's finished! I hope you enjoyed this little chaotic adventure with my three favourite couples, and that it was as entertaining for you to read as it was for me to write. This chapter in particular was pretty exhausting, though - two whipsmart guys being ridiculously charismatic for 3.5k words? Tiring. I loved every minute of it, though.
> 
> Tomorrow's prompt is "stay", and will be... something. We'll see. Any ideas, SoC-themed or otherwise, are welcome!


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